One notable absence in Obama’s plan – a public health insurance option, a favorite of liberals, but a provision that became the most controversial part of the congressional debate on reform. Obama has long said he would sign a bill without it, and his own legislation confirms that.

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Obama released his bill just days before Thursday’s bipartisan health care summit, and by doing so, he hoped to set the agenda for the meeting – making his own bill the starting point for any discussions, and trying to force Republicans to come to the table with their own plan.

The plan appears designed to allay liberals in the House while not going too far in a way that would alienate Senate moderates. For example, it vastly scales back the tax on “Cadillac” insurance plans, which will please liberal Democrats, but by leaving out the public option, hopes to win over moderates.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was non-committal toward the bill, however, saying Obama’s bill “contains positive elements from the House and Senate-passed bills. I look forward to reviewing it with House members and then joining the President and the Republican leadership at the Blair House meeting on Thursday.”

At the same time, the president makes a run at Republicans by boosting measures to crack down on waste, fraud and abuse in Medicare – a fixture in GOP talking points. It would also delay implementation of the taxes on various health care industry players, and changes the fee on medical device manufacturers to an excise tax.

The proposal eliminates some of the most maligned elements of the Senate bill and enhances popular provisions, such as fully closing the “donut hole” for Medicare prescription drug beneficiaries. Obama’s proposal also includes a legal requirement on all Americans to own insurance but lowers the penalty on individuals who don’t, to just $325 in the first year.

But Republicans showed no sign of embracing the president’s ideas, calling his proposal more of the same drafted-behind-closed-doors policy that Americans have already rejected. They continue to push for Democrats to start with a blank slate, a demand Obama has emphatically rejected.

“This is not a serious attempt to address the concerns the American people have expressed about the Democrats’ bills and does not truly include important policy changes Republicans have been pushing to address them, like ending junk lawsuits that drive up health care costs,” said Ways and Means Ranking Republican Dave Camp (Mich.)

After months of losing the messaging war on health care, the White House put a new frame on the subsidies for lower-income Americans to purchase health insurance, describing them as the "largest middle class tax cut for health care in history." At the same time, the plan would raise the Medicare payroll tax on couples earning more than $250,000 a year.

But it remains unclear whether the political will exists in either chamber to move ahead with a comprehensive health care bill in the current political environment.

“We view this as the opening bid for the health meeting,” said White House communications director Dan Pfeiffer. “We took our best shot at bridging the differences. We think this makes some strong steps to improving the final product. Our hope is Republicans will come together around their plan and post it online.”